I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in the processes that promote divergence and convergence in wild vertebrate systems. I primarily work in island systems, especially on bird populations in the southwest Pacific. I examine the patterns and rates of genomic and phenotypic change when birds colonise these novel environments, and aim to understand the relative importance of different evolutionary processes in producing island forms. Projects utilise a variety of methodologies, from whole genome analyses to examine impacts of divergence and hybridisation, and examination of multiple aspects of the phenotype including life history, morphology, behaviour and song variation. The types of repeated phenotypic changes observed in island birds are summarised as the island syndrome, and I am interested in how changes in biotic interactions including predation, competition and parasitism can explain the emergence of this syndrome in birds.
behaviour, ecology, evolution, genetics
